Influence of voluntary standards and design modifications on trampoline injury in Victoria, Australia

© 2015 BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved. Purpose To examine the influence of the voluntary Australian trampoline standard (AS 4989-2006) and market-driven design modifications on relevant trampoline injuries. Methods Trend and intervention analysis on frequencies and proportions of hospital-treated trampoline-related injury in Victoria, Australia, extracted from the Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset from 1 July 1999 to 30 June 2013. The injuries relevant to the AS were contact with spring and frame, and multipleuser injury. Falls from trampolines were relevant for netted trampolines, a market-driven modification. Results Frequency of all trampoline injuries increased by 11.4% (95% CI 10.0% to 11.7%) on average each year. Spring and frame, and fall injuries increased to a lesser extent (8.7%, 95% CI 6.9% to 9.8% and 7.3%, 95% CI 5.8% to 8.3%, respectively). Multiple-user injuries increased by 21.0% (95% CI 16.3% to 21.9%). As a proportion of all trampoline injuries, spring and frame injury and falls injury decreased, while multipleuser injuries increased. The intervention analysis showed no significant change in spring and frame injuries associated with the AS (p=0.17). A significant increase was found for multiple-user injuries (p=0.01), in particular for the 0-year to 4-year age group (p<0.0001), post 2007. Conclusions There was little evidence for an effect of the voluntary standard on spring and frame injury and none for multiple-user injury. Netted trampolines appear to be associated with a decrease in falls from trampolines but an increase in injuries to multiple users. A mandated trampoline safety standard and a safety campaign including warnings about multiple users is recommended. Continued monitoring of injury data will be required

Developing Interventions for Children's Exercise (DICE): a pilot evaluation of school-based exercise interventions for primary school children aged 7 to 8 years.

BACKGROUND: Developing Interventions for Children's Exercise (DICE) is an initiative aimed at determining effective school-based exercise programs. To assess feasibility, we conducted a pilot study of exercise sessions which varied in duration and frequency. METHODS: Exercise interventions were delivered to Year 3 pupils (age 7-8 years; n = 73) in primary schools within Yorkshire, UK. Evaluations were conducted using focus group sessions, questionnaires and observations. RESULTS: The study revealed positive aspects of all interventions, including favorable effects on children's concentration during lessons and identified the value of incorporation of the DICE concept into curriculum lessons. Children appeared enthused and reported well-being and enjoyment. Areas requiring attention were the need for appropriate timetabling of sessions and ensuring the availability of space. CONCLUSION: The concept and sessions were well-accepted by teachers who confirmed their full support of any future implementation There appears to be potential for the encouragement and empowerment of teachers to support physical activity and healthy school environments, and to take an interest in the health of their pupils. Ultimately, these findings should assist in the design of successful exercise interventions in the school setting

Genetic organization of pha gene locus affects phaC expression, poly(hydroxyalkanoate) composition and granule morphology in Pseudomonas corrugata

The complete sequence of the pha locus responsible for the biosynthesis of poly(hydroxyalkanoates) (PHAs) in Pseudomonas corrugata 388 was determined. As with the other known pseudomonad pha gene loci, the one in P. corrugata 388 also consists of phaC1 (1,680 bps; PHA synthase 1), phaZ (858 bp; PHA depolymerase) and phaC2 (1,683 bp; PHA synthase 2) genes. A BLAST search showed that the nucleotide sequences of these genes and the amino-acid sequences of their respective gene products are homologous to those of P. corrugata CFBP5454 and P. mediterranea CFBP5447. A putative intrinsic transcription terminator consisting of a dyad symmetry (24 bp; Delta G = -41.8 kcals) that precedes a stretch of dA residues was located in the phaC1-phaZ intergenic region. P. corrugata mutant-clones XI 32-1 and XI 32-4 were constructed in which this intergenic region was replaced with a selectable kanamycin-resistance gene. These mutant clones when grown on oleic acid for 48 h showed 4.7-to 7.0-fold increases of phaC1 and phaC2 relative expression in comparison to the initial inoculants, whereas the parental strain showed only 1.2- to 1.4-fold increases. Furthermore, in comparison to parental P. corrugata with only a few large PHA inclusion bodies, the mutants grown on oleic acid produce numerous smaller PHA granules that line the periphery of the cells. With glucose as a substrate, XI 32-1 and XI 32-4 clones produce mcl-PHA with a high content (26-31 mol%) of the mono-unsaturated 3-hydroxydodecenoate as a repeat-unit monomer. Our results show for the first time the effects of the phaC1-phaZ intergenic region on the substrate-dependent temporal expression of phaC1 and phaC2 genes, the repeat-unit composition of mcl-PHA, and the morphology of the PHA granules

CMS Software Distribution on the LCG and OSG Grids

The efficient exploitation of worldwide distributed storage and computing resources available in the grids require a robust, transparent and fast deployment of experiment specific software. The approach followed by the CMS experiment at CERN in order to enable Monte-Carlo simulations, data analysis and software development in an international collaboration is presented. The current status and future improvement plans are described.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, latex with hyperref

The M33 Variable Star Population Revealed by Spitzer

We analyze five epochs of Spitzer Space Telescope/Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) observations of the nearby spiral galaxy M33. Each epoch covered nearly a square degree at 3.6, 4.5, and 8.0 microns. The point source catalog from the full dataset contains 37,650 stars. The stars have luminosities characteristic of the asymptotic giant branch and can be separated into oxygen-rich and carbon-rich populations by their [3.6] - [4.5] colors. The [3.6] - [8.0] colors indicate that over 80% of the stars detected at 8.0 microns have dust shells. Photometric comparison of epochs using conservative criteria yields a catalog of 2,923 variable stars. These variables are most likely long-period variables amidst an evolved stellar population. At least one-third of the identified carbon stars are variable.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. See published article for full resolution figures and electronic table

Star formation in z>1 3CR host galaxies as seen by Herschel

We present Herschel (PACS and SPIRE) far-infrared (FIR) photometry of a complete sample of z>1 3CR sources, from the Herschel GT project The Herschel Legacy of distant radio-loud AGN (PI: Barthel). Combining these with existing Spitzer photometric data, we perform an infrared (IR) spectral energy distribution (SED) analysis of these landmark objects in extragalactic research to study the star formation in the hosts of some of the brightest active galactic nuclei (AGN) known at any epoch. Accounting for the contribution from an AGN-powered warm dust component to the IR SED, about 40% of our objects undergo episodes of prodigious, ULIRG-strength star formation, with rates of hundreds of solar masses per year, coeval with the growth of the central supermassive black hole. Median SEDs imply that the quasar and radio galaxy hosts have similar FIR properties, in agreement with the orientation-based unification for radio-loud AGN. The star-forming properties of the AGN hosts are similar to those of the general population of equally massive non-AGN galaxies at comparable redshifts, thus there is no strong evidence of universal quenching of star formation (negative feedback) within this sample. Massive galaxies at high redshift may be forming stars prodigiously, regardless of whether their supermassive black holes are accreting or not.Comment: 30 pages, 13 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in A&